Camel milk finally recognized as food item in India, but standards are reason for worry

On 2nd December, when the Living Lightly Exhibition was inaugurated at the Indira Gandhi National Centre of the Arts in Delhi, it was announced by India’s Food Safety and Standards Authority that camel milk had finally made it onto the list of recognized food items – a long awaited move considering the urgency of creating an economic rationale for camel breeding. Gujarat’s Amul dairy also promised that camel milk would be on the shelves in supermarkets throughout the country within three months.

Overall this news is great, but the standard of 3% fat content set by the FSSAI for camel milk is worrying. Its a well proven fact that camel milk fluctates in its composition and, in the hot and dry months, fat content can go well below 2%. More advocacy is neded in order to rectify this!